Kudos again to Le Roy Standish and The Daily Sentinel for chronicling further developments regarding the proposed expansion of our Board of County Commissioners from 3 to 5 (”Possible growth of county board subject of forum,” March 11).

Curiously, Le Roy did not report that the forum ˆ scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, in the Old Court House courtroom (where the commissioners meet on most Mondays and many Tuesdays) is being arranged by the Western Colorado Congress. Thus, hopefully, the forum may constitute a “new dawn” in the evolution of Mesa County politics.

Remember, it was only last July 31, that Commissioner Craig Meis accused the WCC of spreading “hate, discontent, and ill-will” merely for suggesting that Mesa County should adopt enforceable watershed protection and evaporation pond regulations (after Grand Junction had already adopted the former).

And, it was only last April 16 that Commissioner Meis touted the nonexistent “Energy Master Plan” to the city councils of Grand Junction and Palisade (after inviting some three dozen energy companies — but not the WCC or the public — to participate in its development). Indeed, it was that revelation that prompted the rural municipalities — joined by Grand Junction — to call for expanding the board to five commissioners.

Nevertheless, and letting bygones be bygones, Commissioners Meis, Janet Rowland, and Steve Acquafresca should be commended for embracing the WCC’s forum, for promptly publicizing it in the March 10 edition of Mesa County’s electronic newsletter, and for agreeing to televise it on Channel 12 and the county’s Webcast.

While cynics may surmise that Commissioners Meis and Rowland are attempting to co-opt the WCC’s forum to promote their own re-election, the fact remains that the entire community will benefit from the widely disseminated public discussion, regardless of any mixed partisan motives of the sponsors, the panelists, and/or of the cCommissioners.

In a pluralistic community, that’s the way participatory democracy is supposed to work.

BILL HUGENBERG
Grand Junction

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 9:12 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.